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Review: HMD Offgrid - satellite connection for all mobiles

HMD Offgrid allows you to send satellite messages with your mobile, whether it's an iPhone or Android.

Elias Nordling
Published

Offgrid is a mobile accessory from Finnish HMD. It is a device with a satellite receiver that you connect wirelessly to your mobile, whether it is an iPhone or Android, via Bluetooth. On the mobile, you install the HMD Offgrid app, and you need a subscription, which you can order in the app if you wish.

The device is light and about the size of one-third of a mobile phone. The design of the device feels very familiar, and when I log into the app, it thinks I have had a subscription before. The reason is that I tested the Motorola Defy Satellite Link, which used Bullitt Messenger as a satellite service. When I compare the device for HMD Offgrid with my pictures of the device for Motorola Defy Satellite Link, I see that buttons, lights, and screws are in exactly the same places.

It might not matter much, Bullitt has gone bankrupt, and the Motorola Defy Satellite Link is no longer available for purchase, but the satellite service remains and is used, among other things, by some of Ulefone's phones, and for those interested in being able to connect their regular mobile, it is good that HMD has picked up the mantle.

You should be interested if you are going somewhere far from mobile coverage, for example, at sea or in the mountains. If you have mobile coverage, HMD Offgrid's satellite reception offers no real advantage, and the fact is that messages are sent via the regular mobile network if a connection is available, to save you the consumption of your satellite subscription's allowance.

Send SMS and your location

The features you get via HMD Offgrid include the ability to send text messages of the same length as SMS, as well as the option to check in. You can do this in the app or simply by pressing a button on the device. Your current location, retrieved from the device's GPS, is then sent as a map pin to the person you have chosen to send it to. You can also enable logging in the app so that your location is sent continuously without you having to do anything, and you can choose for yourself how long and at what intervals this should happen. Finally, there is an SOS function, a large button that you hold down, upon which an alarm message with your location is sent to an emergency centre. Alarms via satellite are only supposed to work in certain countries in North America, Europe, and Oceania, but the link to the page listing which countries support the function is broken on HMD's website.

The person you send messages and check-ins to receives them as SMS, but can choose to install the HMD Offgrid app without having a subscription in order to send replies to you via satellite.

Satellite reception can be a bit finicky. HMD recommends that you do not stand near tall buildings, and generally, you need to be outdoors with a fairly open sky to get a connection. Gaining some elevation from the surrounding landscape often helps, but in forests, it can be difficult to get any signal. If you have been out of reception and make contact with the satellites, the device buzzes, so you don't need to walk around looking at its connection light all the time. Once you are connected, your messages reach the recipient in a few seconds.

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The device has a battery life of three days with normal use according to HMD, so just like your mobile, it needs to be charged continuously if you are out in the wilderness.

HMD offers two different subscriptions, for about 1000 kronor per year you get up to 350 messages, while for 1800 kronor per year you get unlimited messages. To this, you need to add a start-up fee of 150-250 kronor and of course the cost of the device itself, which is about 2000 kronor. 

If connectivity without a mobile network is critical, HMD Offgrid is a relatively cheap option for satellite communication. The short battery life of the device is somewhat of a hindrance if you are, for example, hiking in the mountains, and it might work best if you are going out on a boat in open sea. Then there is nothing to interfere with the reception.

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